In standard HVAC systems, air is delivered to a space treated to the desired cooling or heating temperature through a series of ducts, dampers, and registers. HVAC systems are engineered to provide conditioned air for the entire building. In designing these systems engineers calculate the preferred air flow; however when these systems are installed the builders construct the duct network based upon the duct specifications on a series of drawings or blueprints. Often the fabricated system does not conform to the designed system. In addition, sometimes the conditioned space needs are different than originally designed or otherwise need to be adjusted. It would therefore be beneficial to provide a device which balanced the airflow to be delivered to a space in conformity with the designed system or the needs of the space.
Generally air balancing is helpful to ensure the HVAC system is capable of providing design airflows to all system components under maximum airflow conditions and to satisfy specific zone operating conditions. When an air distribution system is installed the entire air distribution system goes through an initial system balancing. This is typically an iterative process where an air flow for each conditioned space is measured, the balancing damper is adjusted and the air flow is measured to determined the result of the adjustment. Typically the damper is located a distance away from the space to be conditioned in a hard to reach area. The balancer must repeatedly travel to the conditioned space to perform a measurement and then travel to the balancing damper to perform an adjustment until the desired volume of air is achieved. Balancing one conditioned space may affect the balancing of another conditioned space, requiring the repeated measurement of additional spaces. This process can take a substantial period of time and energy until the building is balanced. In addition, as the use of a conditioned space changes, or additional spaces are provided, the system must be rebalanced, again requiring a substantial investment. Therefore, there exists a need to facilitate the balancing of an air distribution system.
One method of balancing the damper is to use a mechanical linkage system like the Bowden Control Cable. This system consists of a series of mechanical linkages and a lever mechanically fastened to the damper with a cable having a wire inside. In addition, the system consists of a rack and pinion screw drive. The screw drive is used to adjust the damper to the desired position, pushing or pulling the wire inside the cable.
However, these systems have several distinct limitations. To function optimally, the cable must not run more than 30 feet from the damper, placing restrictions on the architectural design. Furthermore, the cable should only be installed in a straight line; otherwise the damper is very difficult to adjust. Finally, if the wire runs more than thirty feet or has any curves or bends in its path, the device requires excessive operational force causing increased system breaks and loss of damper control. In addition, if a break does occur, replacement costs will likely be expensive.
In addition, presently there exists several building control systems which provide for automated building management systems which provide a centralized control center for the remote sensing and adjustment of the conditioned space.
There have been prior art attempts to overcome these limitations.
Additionally, some systems provide for variable volume systems based upon thermostatic controls. These systems include the Ruise powered blower (U.S. Published Patent Application 20050087614) which consists of both a motorized damper and blower placed into a vent. These connect to a permanent thermostat that uses the combination of damper and blower to control the temperature in each room. The damper and blower engage when the room's air needs to be conditioned and turn off when the room has reached the desired temperature. This system also has limitations.
Some building control systems, including Rein (U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,988) attempt to condition spaces with a hierarchical control system based upon multiple sensors including thermostatic sensors located within a conditioned space and located external to the space to be conditioned. These systems are often complex and expensive. Configuring the system can require significant expenses in time, configuration, installation and commissioning. In addition, large buildings are susceptible to installation errors or changes made during fabrication and installation. Prior to operation and after installation, even with an automated building control system, each conditioned space must often be balanced by physically traveling to the space to be conditioned, measurements being taken and adjustments being made to ensure the correct balancing damper is properly configured and associated with the correct conditioned space. Because hierarchical control systems still require commissioning and balancing and because of the excessive cost associated with the design and implementation, there is still a benefit to a simple easy to use, manual balancing system which provides the desired quantity of air to the conditioned space.
Several attempts at providing a quantity of air to the conditioned space include providing an electrically wired motorized damper for adjusting the volume of air delivered to the space. However, in addition to the increased costs, hard-wiring the damper to the power source requires additional electrical circuits, possible points of failure, increased maintenance issues and does not solve the problem of commissioning and implementing the HVAC system to provide the proper quantity of air to the conditioned space.
Another common attempt to provide a volume of air to a conditioned space is promoted by Johnson Control Systems. Here, a system of motorized controls including motorized vent dampers is connected and controlled by a centralized computer located at a remote location away from the space to be conditioned. In addition, the control system being part of a larger control system monitors and adjusts many additional control points as part of its climate control duties. While this would seem to be a solution, it also requires the purchase of expensive equipment that would rarely be used and extensive programming to implement and the prior to operation, each conditioned space must be physically visited to confirm proper operation.
Another example of a centralized control system is under Heitman. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,245) Flow control valves are interfaced with HVAC ducts at the different ends in adjoining rooms of a structure. A flow control command device, mounted on the wall of the structure, is provided to control the flow of air through the HVAC ducts in response to flow control commands. Flow control commands are wirelessly transmitted to a command decoder and converted to flow control signals. A flow control signal bus connects the flow control signals to the flow control valves. A master thermostat is connected directly to the HVAC system and in series with a slave thermostat. This series thermostat connection causes control of the HVAC system to be determined by the thermostat located in the room that receives the highest air flow. Again, a thermostatic control network is expensive and requires extensive programming to simply supply each vent with the same volume of air.
Tamlyn (U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,919) consists of an air-conditioning system which provides for controlling the flow of conditioned air from a duct to a predetermined location of an occupied area of a building. A fitting is secured at one end of the duct and has a moveable butterfly valve mounted therein for selectively controlling flow of conditioned air therethrough, the fitting include a motor and motor control relay for controlling operation of the valve. An outlet is mounted in association with wall means adjacent the location and spaced from the fitting. A flexible conduit is connected to another end of the fitting means and extends from the fitting means and is connected with the outlet means. A remote signal receiver is in electrical circuit with the motor means and motor control relay and is located to receive a transmitted signal and there is a remote controlled signal transmitter signal compatible with the receiver whereby an occupant in the location may remotely control the flow of conditioned air through the outlet means to the location. This system is again local with the controller able to be manipulated by non-engineers and ignores the consequences of changing one damper without adjusting the others.
Kodaveridan (U.S. Pat. No. 6,719,623) is a device that also manipulates air volume for personal comfort. This device allows a sitting airline passenger to control the direction and volume of the airflow from an overhead air-conditioning nozzle by manipulating a remote control keyboard located near the passenger. The invention allows an individual-supplemental air volume to be introduced into an aircraft cabin by means of individual adjustable air outlets to provide a “local” climate zone distinct from the basic cabin climate. Further, the invention also provides a means of remote passenger manipulation of the individual-supplemental air volume and direction and all from the comfort of the passenger seat.
Each of these systems leaves a need for simple reliable system and method for adjusting a damper using a remote positioning unit in communication with an electronic pulse actuator adapted for receiving an electronic pulse from the remote positioning unit until the desired volume of air is received by the conditioned space.